The Anti-Thyroglobulin and Anti-Thyroperoxidase Auto Antibodies Comparative Mean Titer Values In Infertile Compared To Ferlile Euthyroid Women

OBJECTIVE: This study was carried out to determine the anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroperoxidase serum auto-antibody levels as primary markers and their immunological correlates as indicators of the cause of infertility and the recurrent spontaneous abortion in some Euthyroid Nigerian women. DESIGN: A total of two hundred and ninety (290) Euthyroid female volunteers were recruited having filled a designed questionnaire to obtain their informed consents. Thereafter, following the Ethics group recommendations, blood samples were collected from each of the one hundred and sixty four (164) women in the control groups, a week after their menses. The control groups recruited are as follows: (46) nulligravida, (58) multiparous non-pregnant women and (60) pregnant women in their first trimester, served as the third control group. There were one hundred and twenty six (126) infertile women in the test group, made up of (34) primary infertile, (46) secondary infertile and recurrent spontaneous aborters respectively. The assays of anti-thyroglobulin and anti-microsomal (thyroid peroxidase-anti-TPO) antibodies were determined, using individual agglutination kits and the diagnostic ELISA kits (enzyme linked immuno-sorbent assay) from meridian Bioscience Europe.   RESULT / OUTCOME: This study had therefore established the significant presence of anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroperoxidase as immune species marker in the serum of some Euthyroid Nigerian women experiencing reproductive failure compared to the women in the control group. The serum anti-thyroglobulin (Tg-Ab) and anti-microsomal (anti-thyroperoxidase (TPO- Ab) auto antibodies showed that serum anti-thyroglobulin (Tg-Ab) level was significantly higher in the women in the secondary infertile (809.65+ 3.23 U/ml ) than that of the primary infertile group with 539.59+3.79 U/ml  as well as the recurrent spontaneous aborter group with 490.00+3.20 U/ml. This are compared with the control women in the nulligravida with (42.48+3.16 U/ml), multiparous (32.02+ 2.82 U/ml)   and the pregnant (31.90+ 2.77 U/ml) groups. The anti-thyroperoxidase (TPO-Ab) mean titer of the study group was equally higher and significant (P < 0.05) compared to the women in the control group. Keywords: Anti-thyroglobulin (Tg Ab) , anti-thyroperoxidase (TPO Ab), pregnancy, primary infertility and Recurrent Spontaneous Abortions

Financial toxicity of cancer care in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: The costs associated with cancer diagnosis, treatment and care present enormous financial toxicity. However, evidence of financial toxicity associated with cancer in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is scarce. Aim: To identify the extent of cancer-related financial toxicity and how it has been measured in LMICs. Methods: : Four electronic databases were searched to identify studies of any design that reported financial toxicity among cancer patients in LMICs. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to derive the pooled prevalence of financial toxicity. Sub-group analyses were performed according to: costs; and determinants of financial toxicity. Results: : A total of 31 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of financial toxicity was 56.96% [95% CI, 30.51, 106.32]. In sub-group meta-analyses, the financial toxicity was higher among cancer patients with household size of more than four (1.17% [95% CI, 1.03, 1.32]; p = 0.02; I 2 = 0%), multiple cycles of chemotherapy (1.94% [95% CI, 1.00, 3.75]; p = 0.05; I 2 = 43%) and private health facilities (2.87% [95% CI, 1.89, 4.35]; p Conclusions: : This study indicates that cancer diagnosis, treatment and care impose high financial toxicity on cancer patients in LMICs. Further rigorous research on cancer-related financial toxicity is needed

Microfilament association of ASGP-2, the concanavalin A-binding glycoprotein of the cell-surface sialomucin complex of 13,762 rat mammary ascites tumor cells

Microfilament-associated proteins and membrane-microfilament interactions are being investigated in microvilli isolated from 13,762 rat mammary ascites tumor cells. "Phalloidin shift" analyses on velocity sedimentation gradients of Triton X-100 extracts of [3H]-glucosamine-labeled microvilli identified a 120-kDa cell-surface glycoprotein associated with the microvillar microfilament core. The identification was verified by concanavalin A (Con A) blots of one- and two-dimensional (2D) electrophoresis gels of sedimented microfilament cores. By 2D-electrophoresis and lectin analyses the 120-kDa protein appeared to be a fraction of ASGP-2, the major Con A-binding glycoprotein of the sialomucin complex of the 13,762 cells. This identity was confirmed by immunoblot analyses using immunoblot-purified anti-ASGP-2 from anti-membrane serum prepared against microvillar membranes. Proteolysis of the microvilli with subtilisin or trypsin resulted in an increase in the amount of ASGP-2 associated with the microfilament cores. An increase was also observed with sialidase treatment of the microvilli, suggesting that negative charges, probably present on the highly sialated sialomucin ASGP-1 of the ASGP-1/ASGP-2 sialomucin complex, reduce ASGP-2 association with the microfilament core. Proteolysis of isolated microvillar membranes, which contain actin but not microfilaments, also increased the association of ASGP-2 with a Triton-insoluble, actin-containing membrane fraction. Purified ASGP-2 does not bind to microfilaments in sedimentation assays. Since the Triton-insoluble membrane residue is enriched in an actin-containing transmembrane complex, which contains a different glycoprotein, we suggest that the ASGP-2 is binding indirectly via this complex to the microfilament core in the intact microvilli